Intensive care unit crowding encourages faster patient discharge, a practice that does not affect short-term patient outcomes, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers tracked the impact of three strain variables — ICU census, new admissions and average acuity — on length-of-stay, 72-hour ICU readmissions, subsequent in-hospital death, post-ICU discharge length-of-stay and hospital discharge destination.
While increases in the strain variables were associated with shorter ICU stays and slightly increased odds of ICU readmissions (1 percent increase per 6.3 hour reduction in ICU stay), increases in strain variables were not associated with increases in death, reduced odds of being discharged home or a longer hospital stay.
The study concluded ICU readmissions are unlikely to be related to patient outcomes.
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